Member

Posts: 22
From:London, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 01-11-2004 11:21 AM         

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I have been treating my puffer for 1 month I am pretty sure he has velvet. He has lost much weight has very laboured breathing and is lying on the bottom of the tank. He is a community puffer yellow with brownish markings. He made it through 3 moves so he is a fighter. I have been treating with Dessafin and aquarium salt. He was not getting better, but not getting worse, but I think he is dying right now! Is there anything I can do?? Should I put him in a gallon bowl and do a salt dip? Should I put hydrogen peroxide in the water? He looks like he can hardly breathe!

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posted 01-11-2004 12:28 PM         

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Hi ceveretts, It sounds like you've done everything you can for him. The fact that you've had to medicate him for a month is a good indication of the eventual outcome. Any time it takes longer than 10 days of medication there is not much hope. I'm not familiar with Dessafin so I can't make any statement as to it's effectiveness. I am a very big proponnent of the Mardel line of products because of their ability to treat several different problems without the normal complications, and have found them to be very effective. If you run into this again you might try the Mardel products. I'm sorry about your puffer.

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Member

Posts: 22
From:London, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 01-11-2004 01:05 PM         

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Thank-you for your reply kc5gvn. I will try that line you recommend in the future. Just so you know dessafin is a medication for pond fish, but it was recommended to me in the past, it worked great for me on other issues such as Ick. It is supposed to help with parasites and bacterias and I wasen't positive he had velvet at first since he is usually yellow with brown spots and lines. The literature I had was not specific enough on the symptoms other than the gold dust! In the future I will log on if any of my other fish need help. This site is a great idea! Do you happen to know the name of my sick puffer because when I try to order one nobody knows what I am talking about he is not a green spotted and he is not a figure eight puffer either. He is very small maybe an inch long and used to be very fat! He is so cute and I will miss him. Thank-you again, ceveretts.

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posted 01-11-2004 09:17 PM         

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Hello, It's been so long since I've really looked at puffers but try this link and look at the picture to see if he might be a Dwarf (Malabar) Puffer. Green, Dwarf and Figure 8 are the most common puffers you'll see. http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/gpuffer3.html

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Member

Posts: 22
From:London, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 01-13-2004 08:00 AM         

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Indeed, it was a dwarf malabar puffer. Thank-you very much! I shall bring the photo I printed to the fish store and see if they can order a couple for me. They are awesome fish for anyone out there who is interested is getting some. I was soooo attatched to mine, even though I have a 65 gallon with many fish in it I cried all day sunday while he was dying. This sweet little guy used to follow me around and "wink" and stuff that no other fish I have owned has ever done. I highly recommend these cute little guys to anyone! Thanks again!

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